First Worcester County pot dispensary opens in Leicester

The first medical marijuana dispensary in Worcester county is opening Friday in Leicester.

Cultivate Holdings has opened a dispensary in a 23,000-square-foot building at 1764 Main St., President Sam Barber told the Worcester Business Journal on Tuesday.

The company was legally allowed to start selling medical marijuana last week. A grand opening is scheduled for Friday.

The facility is a complete operation: cultivation, processing, cooking and sales are all done under one roof.

"It's kind of like farm-to-table," Barber said.

Currently, the dispensary has about 100 pre-registered patients, Barber said.

"We haven't done a lot of outreach, and we expect that number to really jump now that we're on the state website," he said.

Barber and the company have been working to get the facility permitted and approved by state and local agencies for nearly three years. So far, the facility employs 20, but that number is expected to grow to about 50, Barber said.

The facility fills a needed gap for Worcester-area patients, as the nearest facilities are in Newton and Northampton, both more than a 45-minute drive from Worcester.

"When you have a family and full-time job, it just becomes a huge burden for people to have access to quality medicine," he said.

More dispensaries could be on the way for Worcester County. According to the state Department of Public Health, four companies have applied to open facilities in Worcester.

The Leicester facility is just for medical purposes, but Barber said the company would need to enter the recreational market once companies are allowed to apply for recreational dispensary licenses in April.